FLYING REPORT MON 26 AUG 24

By Guest Blogger Nigel R

It was a smaller band than usual that gathered on BH Monday in the newly repopulated hangar 4. There was already a good breeze blowing with the potential for wave and under the under the direction of Nigel (Land-Out) Lassiter we were quickly out on the airfield and ready to start flying. 

Whilst we set up Geoff Matthews took our new MEF gliding bursary student Sam for his first instructional flight in a motor glider. This was after Geoff discovered that the motor glider worked better when you had the key – we’ve all been there Geoff.

Early on the weather varied between cloudy, windy and gusty and more windy and gusty.  After checking the forecast and then her bank balance to see how many 4000ft aerotows she could afford, Laura abandoned her planned morning aerobatic sortie……..

……and team Haynes stepped into glider R22 for some pre-bronze work-up for Jack, although it was all a bit too much for John Luke who took a snooze on the launch point.  A post flight debrief in the bus confirmed that Jack is making significant progress toward his Bronze skills test.

Following on from his TMG flight with Geoff, Sam then took a further four flights during the day on the last of which, with Geoff M, they claimed hog-of-the-day with a trip of 40 mins.  Good work Sam.

After a brief by Colin on how wings work and how they stall, Liam climbed into R35 with Nick Lewinton to fly the practical elements of his next lessons.

Meanwhile the sky darkened and the temperature dropped as the cloud swept in and we took a short break. But the conditions soon improved and John Luke decided to try his luck in the Astir (R66)  Sadly, the thermal and wave gods were not with him (so he claimed) and he soon returned to earth.

The MEF gliding bursary course covers much more than just flying, with students involved in all aspects of flight operations including launching the aircraft and, much to the delight of the old lads, running the wing.

Elsewhere, Laura managed to fit in 2 aerobatic sorties and, as usual, was watched by the Club’s aerobatic judging committee. And, after a quick currency check, Chris converted to the Astir afterwards commenting that he preferred it to the Myndies old K23 barge. Good work Chris.

Overall, a great Monday Bank Holiday’s flying with 24 launches and over 8 hours flown.  MEF gliding bursary student Sam with Geoff M had the longest flight of the day with Richard Head only a minute behind them.

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